The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for stamping concrete with a mold to develop a pattern in the surface of the concrete. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a vibratory device and a method of using the device that imparts a force to a mold positioned on the surface of the concrete to imprint the surface of the concrete.
Stamping concrete stretches the surface to make an imprint in the surface of the concrete or other imprintable materials, for example, polymer concrete. Stamping includes the use of a mold, sometimes the mold is a form or system of forms, which is acted on by manually tamping the mold into the surface of the concrete to make the imprint. Generally, force is applied to the mold by manually tamping on the mold. Timing of the application of the tamping force is critical, as it must occur during the curing process of the concrete at a time when there is sufficient moisture in the concrete to fill the voids created by the molds. However, if the concrete is too dry, the imprint will result in cracking of the surface of the concrete which is undesirable and not acceptable.
Mechanical devices such as a vibrating plate and roller tampers are used for tamping and compacting soil and gravels. Such devices are too heavy or large for all concrete imprinting. For example, such devices are too heavy to be used on concrete stamping forms of the type that are used to imprint uncured concrete. Such devices are too large to be used in the areas where stamped concrete is normally desired, such as patios, sidewalks and the like. In addition, the magnitude of the vibration of traditional vibrating plate or rolling tampers cannot be controlled to the extent necessary to prevent damage to the concrete surface during the stamping process.